Maja Weatherseed's page

Thanks everyone for the congratulations and kind words, especially for the stories of their own children! Everything has been going well thus far, despite our baby boy's early arrival. It'll be several weeks in the hospital, and we visit daily.

I had talked privately about stepping away in a couple of months. That obviously happened way faster. So I'm making it official. It's been fun gaming with you all, and I wish you all the best as you dive into the Hool Marsh!

To all my games:

My wife gave birth to a baby boy yesterday! He came two months early. Mom and baby are well. Expect some delays in the near-term before I can catch up. Please bot me as needed.

Maja keeps a keen eye open toward the wilderness as Bynoth enters the cabin--no doubt to discuss Perri's fate.

"How about a wild boar!" shouts Maja at the departing Feremon.

"Hm . . . that was probably a stupid thing to ask for, but we'll see!"

Maja voices her disagreement with Harry. "If the plague is coming from the Hool marsh, then that's exactly where we need to go! The longer we sit here, the more dogs and people become sick, and then we're going to be outnumbered even worse! Or as Bynoth would say, let's go scourge those bastards!"

Admittedly, that's more what Maja would say if she were Bynoth--she didn't quite use the same epic language.

"Oh, Thanim is the best. Half of us got infected with plague when we investigated a farmstead that was struck by the disease. But with Thanim's expert care, most of us are on the path to recovery."

Maja looks back toward the cabin, then looks back at Feremon. "Our warrior Perri, however, remains strongly in the grip of the disease. It's unnatural--Perri has not been fully in control. It's like those hounds. They become diseased and then fall under the spell of some greater power."

Maja tones down the yelling a bit, but continues to call out from a distance. "Woah, you know those dogs are probably carrying plague. You need to be VERY careful with anyone they bit! Are your son and daughter okay? Did anything bite you?"

Maja looks back at Bynoth as he gives her a look. She says to him quietly. "Alright, you get to make the call. I'm just saying it wouldn't hurt to have some more help down here!"

"Tut tut, don't be so unwelcoming, Bynoth. Does that guy look like a zombie hound? Didn't think so!"

She listens for the man's explanation, then waves him forward. "Hey! I know who you are! Ol' whats'yername. Er, whosawhatsit. Er . . ." Maja is clearly struggling here.

"Anyway, Demetrious sent you, right? I was gonna cook something, but spent all morning collecting firewood. If you get a fire going, I can get cooking! We're looking for a guide into the Hool Marsh, and I'm guessing you're our man!"

Maja, busy standing watch in the morning, sees the fellow approach. He looks harmless enough. He certainly wasn't trying to sneak up. She yells back to the man. "I think you already know this, but some of us are sick with plague! We'll take any help you can get, but I wouldn't go into the cabin!"

Maja continues her preparations, gathering more wood. She was someone who liked to DO more than THINK. She just hopes that Thanim has everything under control with Perri.

In the morning, Maja is more interested in catching up on sleep than anything else. Last night's battle was exhausting and it seemed all too likely that another night watch awaited them as they attempted to ride out this illness.

Eventually, she gets back to work collecting more firewood--making sure there was a steady supply seemed essential. She will also help create more defensive stakes as needed.

"Do we need to do an exorcism? Splash holy water and put the holy symbol of Pelor on his forehead?"

Maja clearly has no idea what to do.

Maja nods in agreement. "We need to be careful with Perri. I don't think we need to give up on him yet. But at least make sure he can't hurt us. He's dangerously delusional right now."

"The war might not be over, but we won the battle!"

As the enemy retreats, Maja's enthusiasm seems a stark contrast to the others' grimness. Maybe it was naive, but she clings to her optimism like a beacon in the night.

"So anyone who needs it, get some rest. I'll keep the watch going and the fires burning."

Maja continues to encourage Perri back inside. "We did it, the battle is won. Time for you to go back and get some more rest."

Sorry--I definitely just missed that my turn was up.

Maja continues her dretch hunting, taking advantage of the distraction from her allies.

Move and cold-iron smackdown.
Cold Iron Rope Shot, Flank: 1d20 + 15 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 15 + 2 = 28; Damage+Sneak: 1d4 + 7 + 3d6 ⇒ (3) + 7 + (4, 1, 6) = 21
Might be enough to explode it!

I don't know if it changes anything for our party, but unlocking Weapon Finesse seems fine to me!

I think I don't even have to make a save? Woohoo!

"That's right demon spawn, I'm ready for ya!" After her first strike, Maja moves in for the kill.
Cold Iron Rope Shot: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (16) + 15 = 31; Damage: 1d4 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

She then takes a step to hold her original post near the fires.

Seriously! Sylas is our savior!

In case this is necessary for Maja's attack against the Dretch.
Concealment: 1d100 ⇒ 97

Fort, Twist Away: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17.
Seeing Bynoth battle in front of her makes it obvious that an enemy has arrived! Maja steps up -- was that really a demon? No time to worry about that, it was time to fight! She swings a rope shot at the wretched creature--one tailor made to deal with such creatures.

Halfling Rope Shot, Cold Iron: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (14) + 15 = 29; Damage: 1d4 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

Fort DC13, Twist Away: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (12) + 12 = 24

Maja continues to endure the noxious fumes that have now completely inundated the compound. Though her efforts to do so are not without cost. Staggered due to Twist Away.

She continues to wait, guarding the door from anything that might emerge through the fumes. Ready action to 5-foot step and attack if an enemy does show up.

Is Maja up? If so, I think she has no idea what's going on except in her immediate vicinity.

My prior post basically stands, except I won't open the door.

Maja stumbles back to the door. She decides she better not open it and let the fumes in. Instead, she stands guard, waiting to see if the dogs would emerge from the noxious fog.

I just re-read Stinking Cloud and learned the nauseated effect lasts for rounds after leaving the cloud. As a result, I would have had Maja use Twist Away based on knowing how that thing works. Which means she's staggered. Which means her movement to the door ended her turn.

Sorry to complicate things, but trying to be fair. She's pretty useless anyway while this remains a ranged battle.

Fort: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23. Maja instinctively inhales some fresh air before the gas arises, keeping her safe for now. Though who knew how long that would last?

She hurries toward the door, but doesn't dare open it until the right moment.

Move to door, ready action to open the door after Dog Group 2 has acted.

"One of the dogs spoke a foul, soul-piercing tongue, its mouth moving in a way that shouldn't be possible!" Maja continues in her defensive position, but at Bynoth's question she stands a little higher in defiance of her fear.

"Wake up, the dogs are attacking!"

Though when noxious fumes arise from the area around her fire pits, Maja is seen scrambling back. "Magic-wielding dogs? I think we're in trouble!"

Move, total defense.

I'm not entirely sure I understand the strategy, but I moved Maja to what seems to be the larger opening--the trio of fires to the west.

Maja seems flustered. "Can't you let Harry answer for himself? He either needs to be tied up or ready to fight! It would seem the constant state of vigilance was starting to strain her nerves.

She blows a raspberry as Thanim takes Harry away. "Whatever, it was probably a stupid idea anyway. We can take care of this ourselves. You dogs are no match for us!" She shouts her challenge into the darkness.

I know I just proposed the lame idea of tying Harry up. I don't actually want to do that at some level because that could simply take a player out of what looks to be our first combat. But it does kind of seem like Harry could turn on us.

So we could decide to tie him up, but be ready to cut him loose when the attack comes and we confirm Harry is still in control.

Thoughts?

Maja is shaken as Harry seems to be speaking for whatever malevolent force is seeking them. "Harry, you have to snap out of it! We can take the dogs. What we can't handle is if . . . whatever it is . . . gets control of you too! And if you can't do it yourself, we can restrain you. Tie you up in bed. Because having a powerful sorcerer attacking us from within would likely spell doom. Harry, what do you think?" Maja leaves the question of what to do with Harry hanging in the air.

Maja peers into the darkness, but it was hard to see far with the bright light of the fires so close by. "Maybe they'll stay away tonight?" she suggests, waiting anxiously for what might come next. "If they don't come, we can sleep in shifts in the morning."

Maja returns her allies' troubled look with a smile. "Damn, Harry. I was saying how we all should be ready to fight, but maybe you should just take it easy. Bynoth said it a lot better, but we have weapons, magic, and some sharp tactical minds. Against a bunch of dogs? No problem!" It seems Maja's cheery confidence is coming back now that they were dug in.

Maja would take a position at the front line, being the most evasive of the party. Highest AC of the party I think.

Threw up a bunch of stakes to simulate Thanim's proposal, does that seem about right? Assuming the south and east side of our cabin is safe, I think this basically creates a single narrow pathway into the cabin.

Sounds good to me!

I also seem to lack editing rights, unfortunately.

I have to say, that's a pretty well drawn map you put up!

"You are definitely an expert on this, Bynoth! I would trust you over anyone else about strategy. Right, so, we'd better get cracking on putting up those barricades. I learned a thing or two about tying rope while living on the water--you can leave that to me. We've got branches aplenty here to make some fire. We'll need to tell the sick folks about the plan. The reality is, if trouble comes this way, we may need them to fight, sick or otherwise!"

Oh, totally.

"Yep, I said it. I'm ready to go into the plague house if it comes down to it! In the meantime, let's fortify the camp as best we can, yeah?"

"Okay, I'm back!" Maja waves cheerfully at Sylas, as if to reassure him that she was just fine.

"I did a loop around the cabin to look for tracks. Funny enough, I didn't see any signs of tracks by the stream, which is where it seemed like the closest barking was coming from. There weren't tracks on the trail either. But toward the East, there were a bunch of tracks. Pretty small, not wolves, but maybe dogs? They came in an out randomly, and I couldn't really tell where they were going. Figured I shouldn't stray too far." Maja sits down and takes a breather. She looks into the distance, wondering what they had gotten themselves into, and comes to a decision.

"Next time we hear them, I'm going to try and quietly take a closer look."

Good luck with your meeting!

"Yeah, I think we need to put down those hounds. If we don't, they're going to be a terror on the countryside and also disease vectors. Though with how contagious the plague is, it could mean the rest of us catching it." Maja lets out a sigh.

"These dogs were close, so there must be tracks. I'm going to take a look and see what I can figure out."

Maja will scout ahead to determine their numbers and where they are coming from and going to, if possible.
Survival: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

Maja looks around warily, worried that the dogs themselves might hear. She whispers to the others. "So . . . if something is taking control of these dogs, does that mean we need to kill them first? Because that's sure the message I'm getting!"

The barking is so unnerving that Maja is tempted to cover her ears and pretend it's not there, as silly as that would be. "Okay, so here's the deal. If it looks like there are too many wolves to handle, we fall back to the cabin for help. Plague be damned, I'm not going to become meat scrap for the dogs!"

Maja is also puzzled by the weird barking. Could there be some connection to plague? Or is it something entirely different? She listens intently, trying to understand based on whatever she can hear.

Survival: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12

"I don't really know. I mean, maybe the wolves have gotten sick from eating diseased carcasses. Wouldn't put it past them. Whatever it is, it's weird, and I'm glad those wolves aren't coming this way."

Maja chuckles back at Bynoth. "Yes, well, I've always wondered why you're spending your time yelling at us rabble instead of finding a nice disciplined army. But I guess that's your way of saying you care?" Maja shrugs. She still wasn't sure if she understood, but the hardened cleric was loyal--his faithfulness through this time of plague left no doubt.

* * *

Maja calls back as the kind folk depart. "Thanks to you too! I hope you left us some chicken for soup!" Maja hurries up the hill and starts scrounging at the supplies they brought. "Fish, of course it's more fish. Eh . . ." She digs through some more stuff. "Okay, some dried figs, some dill . . . " She then opens up a bottle and sniffs it. "Woo! That's some strong liquor! Guess they wanted to make sure we enjoy our last days if it comes to that!"

She helps move the supplies to camp and excitedly starts up a new fire for some cooking.

Maja's jaw hangs agape as Bynoth shares his tale. "Both your ma and your da died? And the clerics' answer was ta raise you themselves?" Maja tends to the impressive catch of fish from Sylas. "Well, it's certainly not the story I expected. Whoever raised you had a heart. Doesn't matter if he called himself a Hextorite, he cared--even if he doesn't admit it."

Fell ill during international travels (ironically enough), I'll be fine, but please bot me for now.